Trump Wants Massive Military Spending Boost, SCOTUS Hears Case on Sex Offenders and Social Media, Justice Dept. to Drop Texas Voter ID Fight: P.M. Links

• 

  Jette Carr/ZUMA Press/Newscom

  So, the reason President Donald Trump wants to cut spending to some federal agencies is so that he can shift that money and drastically increase federal defense spending by 10 percent—$54 billion. He'll be explaining some of his plan on primetime tomorrow night in an address to Congress.

• More threats have been reported at Jewish community centers today, and another Jewish graveyard was vandalized over the weekend, in Philadelphia.
• Today Supreme Court justices expressed a dim view of a North Carolina law that bans convicted sex offenders from communicating on social media sites and services, so it may get struck down.
• The Department of Justice under Attorney General Jeff Sessions is dropping opposition to Texas' voter ID law. Under President Barack Obama, the Justice Dept. had argued that the law's impact was discriminatory against minorities.
• In today's "You don't say?" news, South Korean intelligence officials believe North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un ordered his half-brother's assassination in Malaysia.
• Trump claims he hasn't called Russia "in 10 years," and rejected the idea that a special prosecutor should be named to investigate possible meddling by the Russian government in the presidential election.
• Besides the La La Land/Moonlight mix-up, the Academy Awards last night also used an image of a woman who is still alive during the "In Memoriam" segment.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and don't forget to sign up for Reason's daily updates for more content.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

...the Academy Awards last night also used an image of a woman who is still alive during the "In Memoriam" segment.

And no Shandling!

[Rich]

"She lives through the magic of videotape!"

[Juice]

Abe Vigoda is still alive!

...Oh wait.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

"Trump claims he hasn't called Russia "in 10 years,"

Politifact rates this as false. It's been 9 years and 11 months since he last called Russia.

[KWebb]

+3600 pinocchios

[Bob K]

I believe Russia was the name of one of his mistresses and they end it 12 years so they are lying.

[JWatts]

"Trump claims he hasn't called Russia "in 10 years,"

While Trump hasn't personally called Russia, it's been determined that people have called Russia from a Trump hotel, and that various Russians have read Trump's tweets.

Politifact Rating: Pants on Fire.

[MarconiDarwin]

He let his short fingers do all the talking in 2013.

http://www.politico.com/story/.....rse-223173

[White Tennis Balls, Jr.]

And no Shandling!

So you're saying there was no...

(dons sunglasses)

...Shandling ovation?

YEEEAAAAAAAHH!!

[CE]

They left out Joan Rivers last time too.

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

Turns out she was only "mostly dead".

[Fist of Etiquette]

...and rejected the idea that a special prosecutor should be named to investigate possible meddling by the Russian government in the presidential election.

We're fighting for Hillary's honor here!

[Fatty Bolger]

Just to be contrary, he should appoint a special prosecutor to investigate possible meddling in other countries' elections by previous US administrations. Now that would be fun.

[Lord_at_War]

When Obama went to England to give a speech in support of the "remain" side of Brexit (and said that Britain would ho to the back of the line in negotiations), was he interfering in another countries' democratic process?

[Mr Drew]

+1
+2 meddling in the election in Israel

[Fist of Etiquette]

...South Korean intelligence officials believe North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un ordered his half-brother's assassination in Malaysia.

Now that's how you do sibling rivalry.

[creech]

That sort of shit worked for Kamehameha, the king who united Hawaii under his control.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Fun fact: Tom Magnum's bar tab at the Kamehameha Club is still unpaid.

[NOT a Naked Intruder]

Another Fun Fact: "Mustache rides" would help him eliminate that debt.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Did he literally order it, from a menu?

[DOOMco]

ouch, fist.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Were you punched?

[Chipper Morning Wood]

He was Fisted.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Under President Barack Obama, the Justice Dept. had argued that the law's impact was discriminatory against minorities.

Because it's totally not racist to assume minority citizens lack the ability to navigate the labyrinth of obtaining photo identification.

[Rich]

Hey! It's a lot more difficult than getting a tattoo, and you know it!

[CE]

So why not make the ID a tattoo bar code on your wrist, or a microchip?
If Trump is going to be called the antichrist, at least get the operational efficiencies that go with it.

[Mr Drew]

at least get the operational efficiencies that go with it

This made me smile

[colorblindkid]

There are more white people living in the South than poor black people living in the South. Isn't it poor, uneducated people who got Trump elected? I haven't seen an explanation for why voter ID laws supposedly affect poor blacks differently than poor whites.

[Rich]

I haven't seen an explanation for why voter ID laws supposedly affect poor blacks differently than poor whites.

Check your privilege!

*** ducks ***

[Bra Ket]

they meant that it discriminates against mexicans.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Today Supreme Court justices expressed a dim view of a North Carolina law that bans convicted sex offenders from communicating on social media sites and services...

WHICH IS WHERE ARE PRECIOUS CHILDREN LIVE.

[Fist of Etiquette]

That's right, I wrote are. Deal with it.

[Not a True MJG]

Ourn't you embarrassed?

[jesse.in.mb]

So bold, so brave.

[Fatty Bolger]

That reminds me of the "SAVE ARE TEACHERS" protest sign from a few years back.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

You went to an Edgar Cayce protest?

[gaoxiaen]

That reminds me of a math joke. The punch line is "Everybody knows pi are round".

[Rich]

Danielle Lang, the Campaign Legal Center's deputy director of voting rights, told The Associated Press and Talking Points Memo on Monday that the Justice Department informed her group and others suing the state of the government's change in position. ... "This signals to voters that they will not be protected under this administration," Lang told Talking Points Memo.

Tomorrow's news: "Trump Administration Sues Dannielle Lang For Slander"

[Fist of Etiquette]

...another Jewish graveyard was vandalized over the weekend, in Philadelphia.

In the vandals' defense, it's Philadelphia, where everyone is expected to be some level of asshole.

[Rich]

The perps, when caught, should be sentenced to provide full restitution and to eat a cheesesteak every hour for a week.

[Fist of Etiquette]

They should be sentenced to play in goal for the Flyers. That is where you really feel the scorn of your fellow Filthadelphians.

[SimonD]

...not a roast pork sandwich?

(that would fix the false flag issue)

[WakaWaka]

Keith Ellison was unavailable for comment

[DJF]

What about the story of a Jesus statue being decapitated twice in two weeks. Is Jesus just chopped liver?

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/22/.....aded-trnd/

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

My-King Johnson to be first active openly gay scholarship player in major-college football

Arizona Wildcats recruit My-King Johnson is set to become the first active openly gay scholarship player in major-college football history.

"I do feel like when I say that [I'm gay], it can put a target on my back. But whatever," Johnson told The Arizona Daily Star.

A royal using peasant vernacular? Is this what we have become?

[MikeT1986]

As a defensive end a target on your back isn't that bad, it's an automatic penalty against them.

[Not a True MJG]

My King Johnson is still closeted.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Not any more.

[Zeb]

First, really? I always figured football was all gay.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Football only became super popular once they adopted the tight pants.

[Enough About Palin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pik7fWR8byI

[Fist of Etiquette]

That name is what he should be bullied for!

[Juice]

My King Johnson?

Non, je refuse.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...the reason President Donald Trump wants to cut spending to some federal agencies is so that he can shift that money and drastically increase federal defense spending by 10 percent?$54 billion.

In his defense - PUN INTENDED - it is one of the few legitimate federal government responsibilities.

[SimonD]

So, the reason President Donald Trump wants to cut spending to some federal agencies is so that he can shift that money and drastically increase federal defense spending by 10 percent

Sure, because the Education Department (and every other government agency) has proven beyond any doubt that the way to improve anything is to spend more money on it...

Fuck me, you'd think a businessman would know better.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Trump is not really a businessman in the strict sense.

[DRM]

Still. Stupid, wasteful spending on legitimate things is better than stupid, wasteful spending on illegitimate things.

[CE]

As long as the army isn't funded for more than 2 years at a time.

[Jerry on the sea]

More threats have been reported at Jewish community centers today

False-flag Antifa action or real neo-Nazis?

[jesse.in.mb]

Trump claims he hasn't called Russia "in 10 years," and rejected the idea that a special prosecutor should be named to investigate possible meddling by the Russian government in the presidential election.

Is this a literal ten years or a "in like 10 years, but really yesterday" kind of thing, and more importantly does it matter because if his advocates will just complain about the media taking him too literally if it's factually incorrect?

[Rich]

s this a literal ten years or a "in like 10 years, but really yesterday" kind of thing

Don't ask NSA. They're still wrapped around the Hillary axle.

[Not a True MJG]

Oh, that was ages ago.

[Fist of Etiquette]

If Trump had talked to Russia in the past decade, that country wouldn't be in the terrible shape it's in now. Awful condition. Believe me.

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

So, all calls are incoming?

[chemjeff]

Good afternoon

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

2017 is the worst ever.People's Court' Judge Joseph Wapner Dies At 97

Thankfully Doug Llewelyn's hair is still going strong.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Will someone please think up a Rain Man joke?

[jesse.in.mb]

I will not enact that labor for you, Fist.

[Zeb]

You never go full retard.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

That would be like beating a dead horse, while rocking back and forth.

[Conchfritters]

$54 billion?? That will buy a lot of $500 toilet seats and hammers for our 900 overseas bases.

[CE]

54 million of each, or 60,000 per base. The math works out simple enough that you may be on to something.

[Scotticus Finch]

the Academy Awards last night also used an image of a woman who is still alive during the "In Memoriam" segment.

Makes sense. They keep airing an awards program that's been a rotting corpse for at least a decade.

[Rich]

Ooh, SNAP!!

[Rich]

Judge Orders California To Release Papers Discussing Risk Of Cellphone Use

*** buys stock in landlines ***

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Deep in Brazil's Amazon, Exploring the Ruins of Ford's Fantasyland

Ford, the automobile manufacturer who is considered a founder of American industrial mass-production methods, hatched his plan for Fordl?ndia in a bid to produce his own source of the rubber needed for making tires and car parts like valves, hoses and gaskets.

In doing so, he waded into an industry shaped by imperialism and claims of botanical subterfuge. Brazil was home to Hevea brasiliensis, the coveted rubber tree, and the Amazon Basin had boomed from 1879 to 1912 as industries in North America and Europe fed the demand for rubber..

These endeavors on the other side of the world devastated Brazil's rubber economy. But Ford despised relying on the Europeans, fearing a proposal by Winston Churchill to create a rubber cartel. So, in a move that pleased Brazilian officials, Ford acquired a giant stretch of land in the Amazon.

[jesse.in.mb]

Is it wrong that I want to set up a fetish club in London called Winston Churchill's Rubber Cartel now?

[Zeb]

I'd go if I was into that sort of thing.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

It is not wrong.

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

Wrong? No, but does London really need another fetish club centered on Churchill?

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Yeah, I think there should be at least one Chamberlain fetish club. It's time to forgive him.

[Xavier T. Sexington]

I went to a Churchill/Clinton-themed cigar fetish club in London. It was gross.

[GLEEMORE?]

Have you read the book by Greg Gandlin? I recommend it.

[Jerry on the sea]

Ford acquired a giant stretch of land in the Amazon.

Only to find a deserted steamship and abandoned opera house.

[Fist of Etiquette]

TRUMP ALT TEXT IS LOW HANGING FRUIT. There, I said it.

[GLEEMORE?]

"Drastically increase military spending"

Libertarian moment?

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

Only if he uses it to equip everyone in the Militia with an M4, M590A1 and M9 or M17!

[CE]

54 billion divided by 100 million = $540 bucks each. What's that get us?

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

Okay, so it's a libertarian 5 year plan. Not everyone gets their entire arsenal the first year. I'd estimate the 3 gun package would be less than $1500 at USG prices.
M4 ~$800
M590 ~$350
M17 ~$250

[Wasteland Wanderer]

According to this, the unit cost of an M-4 is $647.

M9 is freaking $636.

Looks like they're getting the M590 for $235, assuming that's what they mean by "riot shotgun".

[bartzman86]

"So, the reason President Donald Trump wants to cut spending to some federal agencies is so that he can shift that money and drastically increase federal defense spending by 10 percent"

I'm shocked! This is my shocked face! (It's much like my normal face, but 20% more ego)

[GLEEMORE?]

He's going to cut 1 billion dollars from the EPA so he can give 10 billion to the DOD. That's the typical way the party of fiscal responsibility works.

[american socialist]

Good the epa is more costly to our standard of living

[Juice]

The DOD isn't?

[american socialist]

It is but the epa has a more direct impact i think

[JWatts]

Yeah, actually cutting $1 billion from the EPA's ability to create regulations probably is worth $10 billion to the economy.

[GLEEMORE?]

Maintaining a nuclear weapons stockpile capable of killing a couple billion people in an afternoon are vital functions of the U.S. Government. Making sure poor people who are sick don't die isn't. Why all the fuss. These P.M. Links suck.

[Memory Hole]

Defending Americans from disease? That's crazy!

[Free Society]

That's right actually. Good job amsoc.

[GLEEMORE?]

I know! Those Iraqi nationalist who died in a hail of gun fire from Apache helicopters were a threat to Chevron. They got what was coming to them. Anyone who talks bad about Trump and lives in a middle eastern country deserves to be droned. You can never be too safe.

[american socialist]

There are a wealth of anti poverty programs.

Oh wait they keep folks in poverty!

[CE]

There's no general welfare to promote if Russia nukes us first.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

The new heart rules: Cut down on eggs, forget antioxidant pills, and for God's sake STOP juicing: US surgeons release new guidelines on how to keep your heart healthy

They say the best way to keep your heart healthy is the old-fashioned way: fruits and vegetables, nuts and plant-based proteins.

The chart!

[Zeb]

Well that still conflicts with half of what I hear people saying about good nutrition.

Since calorie restriction is definitely not what I need, I guess I'll just stick with "eat lots of what tastes good".

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

"Fewer eggs, less beef, more quinoa," is a recipe for weakness.

[jesse.in.mb]

Make quinoa taste like something other than bitter sand and I'll eat more of it.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

If your quinoa is bitter, Jesse, you are not rinsing it before use.

[jesse.in.mb]

I have so, extensively. I don't mind it *in* things, but it's a garbage replacement for bulgur, couscous (especially Israeli or Lebanese) or brown rice as a side.

I like that you didn't challenge my description of the texture.

[Zeb]

It definitely needs a lot of seasoning. But I quite like it. And never really noticed the bitterness too much. But I'm not one of those people who is extra sensitive to bitter things.

[Episteme]

I love quinoa, but I plan to match it with more eggs and more steak (cutting out the likes of bread and desserts to make room for delightful animal products)...

[Rich]

Relax, Guys! "Juicing" is not what you think.

[Episteme]

But steroids help me bulk safely without all of those extra fatty eggs!

[Juice]

Bullshit on the eggs. Eat the shit out of eggs.

[Bender B. Rodriguez]

This. Eggs and butter. I'll listen to Vinnie Tortorich on my diet before whatever lifetime bureaucrat proposes at the whim of the moment.

[Fatty Bolger]

Yep. This goes back to the BS theory that high fat diets cause high cholesterol, which causes heart disease.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

The BS theory that is supported by every sane doctor? Someone's been reading too much LRC.

[CE]

Low fat diets are bad for you too.
Butter is way better for you than margarine.
And eggs are high quality food.

[Juice]

Holy shit. They say coconut oil is bad for your heart? Fuck them. Totally backwards.

For good heart health eat eggs cooked in fucking coconut oil. I do this every day and put turmeric all over them.

I eat 28 eggs a week this way and my blood work is outstanding.

[jesse.in.mb]

Meh, any diet recommendations that are "this works/everyone should do" are doomed to fuck someone up. Eat Right 4 Your Type was absolutely retarded, but at least it started to drill into the idea that family history was going to have a bearing on how a diet affects you. Salt is illustrative: necessary, good, bad, good, probably ok unless you come from some West African populations.

[Juice]

I don't really know if there's an ideal human diet or one that's suitable for everyone, but there are some pretty broad guidelines that are pretty well true for everyone. One is don't worry about cholesterol levels except if you aren't getting enough. Fat isn't bad for you, except maybe trans fat. Avoid refined sugars (a little here and there is no biggie). Stuff like that is true for pretty much all humans.

[jesse.in.mb]

As much as I'd love to go whole hog on the fats I have a slow gall bladder so too much fat and I get some painful cramping and I'm tied to a bathroom for a while. Different populations are going to have wide ranging dietary strengths and weaknesses.

[Ecoli]

Trans fatty is a protected class, isn't it?

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Jesse has the right idea. Some people can eat bacon everyday, and others need to go vegetarian if they don't want a heart attack.

[Fatty Bolger]

Here's the real rules:

1. Excercise, daily if possible, three times a week at least.
2. Maintain weight below obesity level.
3. DO NOT IGNORE DIABETES SYMPTOMS - one of the quickest ways to heart disease is untreated diabetes.
4. Take care of your teeth. Chronic dental or gum infections can negatively affect your cardiovascular system.
5. Have good heart genes. Sorry, but that's a huge factor. Not fair, but that's how it is.

Bonus tip: Don't do coke if you're fat and/or over 40.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

#4 is absolute bullshit. That has been disproven.

Also, you need to exercise every fucking day.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Otherwise, good stuff, Fatty.

[CE]

Daily exercise is worse than every other day. You wear yourself out.

[Konima]

Depends on the exercise. If you rotate the parts of the body that you're exercising, and do light cardio some days, you could very well exercise ever day.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

For those of you who missed the AM links (I was hilarious, as usual):

ScarJo has Nazi hair.

[Certified Public Asshat]

Would not anymore.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Ueah, that ship has sailed a while back.

[creech]

Just getting ready for her upcoming role as " Ilsa, the Bitch of Belsen."

[Not a True MJG]

And?

[Ska]

It makes the knee high boots that much hotter.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

You're so naive! Open your eyes!

The official haircut of the alt right Nazis is "the high and tight". It is all part of the alt right Nazi's propaganda plan, in which they use style to lure unsuspecting people to their evil side.

Obviously the beloved actress has been brainwashed into joining their team.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

"The guys in the suits are the ones we have to worry about," said Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center. "Beneath the benign-looking guy and the benign-sounding name, the purpose of the National Policy Institute is to push the idea that all men are created unequal." White supremacy may have a new suit and a hipster haircut, but beneath the dapper veneer, it's the same ugly creature it always was.

[Not a True MJG]

So?

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

So? SO?!

THE NAZIS HAVE INFILTRATED THE AVENGERS!

[Not a True MJG]

Well?

[Episteme]

Hail Hydra?

[Chupacabra]

MAKE CAPTAIN AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

[Ecoli]

she looks like Conan O'Brian.

[Bender B. Rodriguez]

South Korean intelligence officials believe North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un ordered his half-brother's assassination in Malaysia.

With one less family member, is Kim Jong Un now feeling so ronery?

[Juice]

Hopefully so ronery he could die.

[Bender B. Rodriguez]

Trans boy wins girls state wrestling title.

1. Officially sanctioned girl's HS wrestling is actually a thing? Apparently in 6 states.
2. Isn't testosterone a performance enhancing drug?
3. Why isn't the federal government DOING SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING ALREADY!

[Zeb]

#2 sounds like the question.

I'm all for people being whatever kind of freaks they want to be, but if we are going to act like biological sex isn't important, then we need to do away with separate girls and boys sports.

[Meh.]

Agree with people being whatever they want to be (as long as it doesn't harm others), but completely disagree with the last part of that, even though it's bound to happen anyway. Which is ridiculous, because girls won't be able to actually be competitive once they hit middle school and puberty. They're really pushing us in a direction where the only way women will be able to compete is if they take cuirrently banned (maybe soon to be unbanned?) testosterone and other anabolic steroids, and I imagine that would kill all interest in sports for most girls. One of the most frustrating things this past summer was seeing this played out in the Rio Olympics women's 800m race.

Of course, after the progs get their way, there will be no shortage of complaining about the patriarchy keeping women down... I swear they don't take time to think these things all the way through.

[Zeb]

In 8th grade there was a girl on the wrestling team. She was kind of a scary, tomboy redneck girl, but somewhat attractive (as I recall, but everything female was somewhat attractive when I was 14). I'm not sure how that worked out in practices and competitions.

[Chupacabra]

"I'm not sure how that worked out in practices and competitions."

Lots of boners?

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

Explain to the daughters why they won't be getting scholarships because a boy who believes himself a girl is stronger than she is naturally.

Try and discourage steroid use at that point.

Distinctions without differences, the sportsman's socialist utopia.

[Bender B. Rodriguez]

Actually, it's a girl who believes herself to be in a parade, but was forced to compete with other girls by the rules of the organization. This was bound to happen eventually.

I remember a wrestling tournament in Middle School where I narrowly avoided having a girl as an opponent. I could tell at the time it would be a lose-lose situation with my peers. Lose the match? You lost to a girl. Win the match? Ha ha, you beat a girl. That was 25 years ago, so I wonder if that attitude prevails.

[Bender B. Rodriguez]

Actually, it's a girl who believes herself to be in a parade, but was forced to compete with other girls by the rules of the organization. This was bound to happen eventually.

I remember a wrestling tournament in Middle School where I narrowly avoided having a girl as an opponent. I could tell at the time it would be a lose-lose situation with my peers. Lose the match? You lost to a girl. Win the match? Ha ha, you beat a girl. That was 25 years ago, so I wonder if that attitude prevails.

[Bender B. Rodriguez]

In a parade? That is the strangest autocorrect I have ever seen. She believes herself to be a boy.

[B.P.]

Autocorrect was trying to help you not be a bigot. Bigot.

[DRM]

Testosterone is a performance-enhancing drug, but the rules of the association allow for medicines legitimately prescribed to deal with medical issues. Cross that with the birth certificate rule on sex, and . . .

[MarconiDarwin]

$54 billion more in military spending, and reason.com libertarians Republicans turn their attention to which bathrooms who should be allowed to use.

Say, what else did the Oscars get wrong?

[GLEEMORE?]

Not to worry... we'll get that back in the form of multiplier effects from all the cancers that are going to occur because we don't have a functional EPA. These Trump guys are smart!

[NOT a Naked Intruder]

Man, if you think the EPA is saving people from cancer, I've got some really bad news for ya.